First, comments from the four youngsters who were asked to write in the journal their favorite part of the camping trip

Dalton: Sitting around the camp fire telling stories and catching fish. Making a dam in the water.

Steven: I really enjoyed catching crawdads, tadpoles, fishing and
swimming. All four of us jumped off the rope swing. I really enjoyed
sitting around the fire and making smores.I also enjoyed sleeping in the tent and seeing raccoons and walking to the spring with Mr. Chunkie and Mr. Denny.
We also shot fireworks Saturday night. Thanks for reading the journal.

Radar: When I arrived around 8am Wed. the road to Bravo was impassable. The storms a few weeks back blew several large trees down blocking the road. I managed to circumvent some fallen trees and made it to Camp Alpha only to find it fully occupied by several tents of strangers. I drove around the area a while waiting for Bumble Bee and the boys he was bringing to arrive. Somehow I missed him early. With
his chain saw and new Jeep he made his way into Camp Bravo. We finally connected about 11am and he led me through the new path to Bravo. We spent the day setting up camp, relaxing and enjoying the weather along the river.Chunkie: As always – trip was great. Radar and I made a 5 mile hike to turnoff on ridgetop and back. Rooster and I talked about this trip being historic since Lee and Shane brought the boys. This is looking
at the future, keeping the tradition so the Black River Gang will continue for many years to come. Of course, we plan to make many more trips before we pass the torch to the youngsters in twenty years or so.Bumble Bee: Bringing 4 boys camping seemed like a good idea from town and after 4 days in the woods it is still a good idea. Everyone enjoyed watching them and playing games on – and with- them. I got to
do more fishing than usual and actually snuk off early one morning with Shane to float and fish. Great times!Shane: The trip here was a little adventurous, but we finally made it around 2am Thursday morning. The fishing was great. I think I’m getting the hang of river fishing. Got to spend some time with Lee,
Radar, Munchkin, Chunkie, & Rooster. They are a bunch of great guys. Enjoyed Radar’s magic show for the boys. The float trip down to Suttons Bluff with the boys was a lot of fun. All in all it was a great
trip with a bunch of funny guys at a great place. Can’t wait to come back next trip.Rooster: There was a sudden 15 minute shower Friday am while most adults were gone hiking or fishing. Munchkin, Rooster, and the four youngsters scurried to put rain flys on the tents and cover what we could. Dalton even thought to put the T-top on Lee’s new jeep. Every thing in camp got a little wet, but dried out quickly when the sun returned and temps hit the 90s. Friday night around the campfire Radar taught the four boys (ages 10-12) the ritual of homage to the three camp spirits; OWAH, TAGU, & SIAM. They were also treated to a snipe hunt. No snipes, but plenty of fun. The mayor told the story of the glutchmaker, but the audience had mostly dozed off by the end. Everyone shared cooking duties this trip. Under Bumble Bee’s supervision the boys were very good at doing the camp chores they were assigned. Munchkin pulled out Saturday morning. Everyone else packed up and pulled out about 9:30 Sunday morning. As a parting gesture Bumble Bee ceremonially burned Rooster’s straw hat with duct tape hatband. Other than one speeding ticket in the group the trips home were uneventful.